Can We Have A Maoist Party Now?

Let's paint the west red!

Here lately I've felt very pessimistic about the left here in the US and so of course I started to wonder why I am having these feelings.


It didn't take me long to realize that it is because I don't have a party or group where I can participate/express myself with like minded revolutionaries to attempt to destroy US imperialism/capitalism.


I have attempted to look into multiple different parties and groups/ORGS etc. But nothing here in the states really comes close to the political line I believe in to take us through to socialism in the US. Simply we do not have a real Maoist party in the US, we have MTWist (they are actually Lin Piaoist), Kasama (sort of) and the RCP-USA which is not a real Maoist party as much as an Avakianist party.  


I recently was sent this link to a blog set up by fellow maoist but when I asked how I could help I got no response. Granted I am not going to join just because they call themselves Maoist but  I would love to see what they have to offer. Their documents seem to imply that they are ready to start the party building process.


I will pursue contacting them further. They posted an e-mail ncpocweblog@hotmail.com under their contact information if any Maoist in the states wish to contact the group.


I am getting off topic though. The fact of the matter is that all the Maoist living in the US need to come together under one banner. Rather you are a anti-revisionist, 100 flower, cultural revolutionary type of Maoist or any other kind of Maoist we should be uniting together into one party to struggle for socialism.


All the other socialist parties have shown themselves incapable of leading the masses in any meaningful way. Sure some groups are good at organizing peaceful protest where the same people come, yell, then go home with an undeserved sense of accomplishment. Some are good at labor organizing, some are good at organizing students, but in reality no party is capable of leading the toiling masses towards socialism.


We Maoist need an outlet for our ideas in a organization where we can practice free and open criticism/self-criticism in a comradly manor.


To put it plainly we need a unified Maoist party. made up of all the Maoist banners!
We need for revolutionaries to put aside petty individual "rivalries" with each other so we can do what we should be doing and that is fighting for socialism/communism.


I for one hope we can get our shit together soon so we can start to organize the fight for socialism. Only a true Maoist party based on the mass line, revolutionary democracy and based in the proletarian masses can lead to a socialist revolution. We will never achieve any progress on that front if we rely on petty bourgeois ideologist parties made up of academia elites. We need a real proletarian party made up of proletarians fighting for the only system capable of meeting every ones needs; socialism.  

My March Forward to Maoism! (updated and revised)

My path towards socialism started when I was 18. I had grown up in a poor family, my parents were working multiple jobs but we were still living in poor housing and unable to ever get ahead financially. Growing up I had always heard that here in the USA the hardest workers were rewarded by their hard work by moving up the "ladder" and thus achieving "the American dream".


Before I even became a teenager I knew the American dream was a lie. My dad never was home except to sleep, then he was off to another job. By the standards of "the American dream" we would have been millionaires, but we weren't and we never got our heads above the water. We never even made it to the "middle class". This helped me come to the realization that capitalism was a system of exploitation and inequality at a very young age.


I became a socialist after a trip I took to the south west. While down there I saw things that I never would have believed existed in the US. I went to lunch lines where I ended up giving all the food I had with me in my back pack to a guy who was living out of his car with his 9 year old child. This touched me deep down in a place I didn't know exited inside myself and I had to help them even if all I could offer was some deer jerky. I cried later that night because there was not more I could do for these people.


I also saw things such a shanty towns and people living in 3rd world like conditions. One thing I couldn't help but notice was that I was the only person that was white in that whole shanty town. People living in the worlds most gluttonous country should not be living in houses made out of gardening sheds and trash metal etc. After talking to some of the residents of this place One person told us he works for dollars a day sometimes his whole family only making 10 to 15 dollars a day. But because they were here "illegally" they couldn't report their conditions. Not to mention that there was a whole family (grandpa, grandma, mom, dad, uncle, aunt, sisters brothers all living in the same "house" (more like makeshift sheds.)



Seeing these kind of injustices on the people living in these conditions to me pointed to something very obvious; that there was a problem with the system and not just specifically the US government. After going on an education binge about politics and different kind of economic systems I realized that there were two problems facing the world; capitalism and imperialism. I then set out to find a system (if there was one) that could correct the problems that the world is facing.


From Independent to democratic Socialist to Marxist


I didn't jump right into revolutionary politics. I was a democrat supporter before I was 18 and at the age of 18 I started reading about socialism but still was in the "communism is bad" camp but at this time I saw socialism and communism and two completely different things. After looking different types of socialism up on the internet I became a democratic socialist. Because that is what MLK declared himself and at this time I was deeply inspired by MLK. I stayed in that camp for around a year and a half. Then I started learning about Che Guevara and reading his diaries which helped me compile a reading list which included Capital volume 1 and the Communist Manifesto and these two readings helped convert me to Marxism.


Once again like most of my advances in theory it was because of CHE's writings and speaches that encouraged to read Lenin's main works. Imperialism; the Higher form of Imperialism, What is to be Done etc. These readings struck me as pure common sense.


This is what lead me to eventually through self education and research become a self proclaimed Marxist. As one could imagine it didn't take me long to tie together imperialism and capitalism as soul mates after reading Lenin's works. I soon would come to call myself and uphold Marxist Leninism as the furthest advance in communist theory.


From M-L to M-L-M



When I first stared on the road to socialism, Maoism was still a bad word to me. The way I understood Maoism was that one person took power and exploited the masses to their benefit. I thought it to be a "capitalist state" idea. I also had the influence of some Trotskyist in my ear telling me that Maoism was only Stalinism. Which now I realize that they only wanted to scare me away from Maoism and for me to join their org. Once again it was the way CHE acted during the Cuban revolution and the rules he made for his army that were so close to that of Mao's rules. After reading about how and why he favored Chinese styled socialism I was inspired to read about Maoism. CHE had been in trouble for speaking out against the USSR socialism in favor of the Chinese (at the time Maoist) form of socialism.


About 2008 I tried to learn whatever I could about Chairman Mao. It was very hard to find anything that wasn't severely anti-Mao in my library and or book stores. So I tried to do some self research and asked people not only about Mao but about Maoism as an idea. Then one of my brothers sent me a link to the little red book. I was captivated by the whole book and was appalled that anyone had ever told me that Mao never contributed to the furtherance of socialism. Well that was just the beginning.


I started reading more and more (On New Democracy, Serve the People, on Correcting Mistaken Ideas in the Party,) then I was sent a link that would change my life forever. It was the most helpful thing I have ever applied to my actions and ideas up til that point. It explained the mass-line and how to apply it to everyday situations. Although this is not the 100% correct way to apply the mass-line, it is a good starting point for any beginner Maoist.

(this is the link I was sent) http://freedomroad.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=705%3Athe-mass-line-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it&catid=182%3A21st-century-socialism&Itemid=235&lang=en


Ive since been growing my knowledge about my local population and interjecting revolutionary ideas and actions whenever possible. I have had a great success with this tactic. I now understand the class divisions more clearly then I ever did. My work has been more effective than in the past and Maoism inspires me daily to struggle forward.


I now have the strongest faith in the poor proletarian classes to be the ones to carry the masses to the proletarian revolution. I believe in communal democracy, I am now a Maoist!


By:Dustin Slagle

On the Question of Allowing Factions in the Party.

I'd like to start by mentioning that I am referring to factions with in a party who's guiding system is Democratic Centralism. There are many sides to this argument and many differing reasons why one supports or does not support factions with in a party.


Most believe that factions within a party will only lead to an inevitable split within that party. There is no evidence to suggest that this would happen but there is no evidence to the contrary. I would like to take this subject from an objective stance. I would love to have comments on this post and see what others think on the subject.


One down side could be that important issues could cause a split or if a hot button issues is decided by only a few percentage like 55-45% on a vote it could cause anger and division among the party.


On the other hand, greater inner democracy could create a feeling of unity within the party and energize some members that would otherwise be down heartened with the bureaucracy of the normal democratic centralist party. I for one would enjoy a party where I could express my individual ideas behind closed doors with other members of my party that shared my same ideas. Then take those ideas to the central committee to be voted on at a congress. It would make me feel more empowered and give me a greater feeling of duty to the party.


Something that comes to mind when I think about a party that would allow multiple factions in it; is that with factions openly encouraged the party could grow larger. For example if a party let everyone in that adhered to any form of Marxist Leninist theory than everything from Leninist to Stalinist and Maoist could join the party. As a Maoist in this country at this time there is no party that truly represents my ideas as a Maoist. I would not and will not join a party that will not allow me to be openly Maoist and express my Maoist ideas and theories. I would join a party if I could openly propagate and advocate a Maoist line with in the party.


However I do not think this idea could work with all the communist tendencies, I do not see a world where Maoist and Trotskyist could be in the same party and peacefully exist. I think an attempt to do so would be a waste of time and resources.


I will touch a little more on this subject in an upcoming post that will be about "A Unified Communist Party of America."

My Views on Maoist Third Worldism.

There are many reasons why I am inspired to write a blog post about Maoist Third Worldism (MTWist). One main reason is the high amount of chauvinism and xenophobia shown by first worldist communist toward the MTW movement. Another few reasons is their theory of what a proletariat is, their ideas of international proletarian revolution, and their attitude towards the present conditions in imperialist countries and finally just the heavy amount of myths that surround this ideology are some reasons why I am writing this blog post.


Let me start by saying as a Marxist it is important to take a scientific approach to all ideas, situations and circumstances. Please keep this in mind while reading this. This post is not meant a promotion nor a condemnation of Maoist Third Worldism (MTW).


One thing I find very interesting about MTW is their idea that not everyone who is part of the working class is a proletariat. While most communist refer to all workers or anyone who sells their labor as a proletarian the MTWist see this as incorrect as did Marx. The proletarian is someone who has nothing to lose but their chains, who has nothing to sell but his labor. The proletarian is also someone who produces value or engages in productive labor. Now this hardly applies to many people in the united states let alone anyone in the first world. As the LLCO correctly point out in one of their blogs "This effect is magnified even more by the relative ease with which First World peoples gain access to large amounts of credit. Significantly, First World workers also receive a share of imperialist super profits extracted from the Third World–just because they are from the First World. Furthermore, First World workers are generally not involved in productive labor as Marx’s model proletarian is. Rather, First World people are employed in non-value-creating positions such as management, merchant capital enterprises, white-collar work, distribution, the service industry, etc. They are often employed in positions that are purely parasitic and drain value. Also, they are often employed in work that may be necessary to realize value, but is not itself value creating."(1)


"global median is about $2.50 a day. There are more people in India earning less than $0.80 a day than people living in the USA." These are staggering numbers that knock me to the floor. It is hard to believe that anyone thinks a revolution will happen in a place where the minimum wage is $5.50 higher then what the average worker in the rest of the world makes. A person making $10,000 a year is in the top 13.3% of the worlds wealthiest people annual income wise. The average American home brings in around $50,000 dollars a year that would put you in the top 1% of the wealthiest people in the world. Now try to imagine you were given only $3,000 dollars to live off of for a whole year, just $3,000 you would still be in the top 15% of wealthiest people on earth annual income wise. The MTWist actually make more sense the more of the ideas I explore.



Their idea of international revolution is easy to follow and makes a lot of sense. They basically follow the ideas of Lin Biao set out in the book "Long Live the Victory of People's War". In the book Lin Biao puts forward that in an international revolution the smaller third world countries would act as the rural areas and that imperialist first world countries would be the cities, and in order to win the international revolution the proletarian army would have to first gain control of the rural country sides (poor, third world countries). After they gained control of the international country sides then the people's army would have to encircle and take over the cities of the world (the first world imperialist nations).



This takes me into one of the myths Ive heard over and over not just about MTWist but Maoist in general. That they are nationalist. I have no clue where this notion came from and I don't care. As a Maoist I can say that not only are we not nationalist but we are the strongest internationalist in the world ideologically. Every Maoist has called for international proletarian revolution. From Mao in China to Fred Hampton in the US we have always called for the start of an international revolution. MTW are no different in fact they are more internationalist than most people claiming to be communist because those who even live in the first world call for the freedom and empowerment of the third world before focusing on their own-selves. That is real internationalism, they call on themselves to uphold the need to lower their living standards so that the people of the world can live more equally. In my opinion that is about as far away from nationalism as possible.



Ive heard so many myths swirling around this ideology that it is hard to chose one to talk about. One time some one said they had heard that MTWist want to "enslave the first world workers" not only is this silly but this is a case of one "socialist" party trying to cause xenophobia towards MTWism. After reading through the LLCO/MSH material I think where the idea of this came from is that the LLCO (correctly) asserts that in order for socialist redistribution to work the workers in the first world imperialist nations would have to lower their standards of living in order for the standards of living in the third world to go up. I agree because we can not pull random nonexistent value from no where. The earth can only produce so much value at a time and in order for everyone on earth to live up to the living standards of the US we would need like 2-3 earths.


Last thing I wanna touch on is what the MTWist mean by "first worldist". A first worldist is someone who thinks that workers in the first world imperialist nations are more advanced than workers in the second and third worlds. Advanced meaning they think the first world workers have more revolutionary potential and that the first world worker is more class conscious. This is mainly just childish chauvinism but where it is dangerous is that it is anti-dialectal. It instills a false sense into the "communist" of the first world that a revolution is not only possible in their country but that if one happens that it will happen in a advanced first world nation. Now lets be clear that with Russia being the one exception (and it is debated rather they were even a first world nation during 1917) there has never been a successful proletarian/communist revolution in a first world country. All great proletarian revolutions took place in third world countries. So it is anti-dialects if a leader of you party/ORG tells you otherwise.


Other times they refer to FWist as people who fight for gains for the first world workers but the MTWist warn that these gains are not free and that the gains won by these struggles come on the backs of third world proletarians. And the MTWist claim that first world worker gain from their nations imperialist exploitation. The counter argument Ive heard to this is that "No imperialist CORP is going to share its profits with the people of their nation" on this issue I am torn. I think we in the first world do slightly benefit from the exploitation of the third world by our government. But I also think that most of the profits stolen from the third world end up in the banks or the big CORP's pockets for the most part.



I think MTWism is something that is a hint of fresh air to a rather stale and old movement. They have a lot to contribute to the movement and I believe their use of Marxism as a science is as good as anybodies. I would encourage my reader to check out their site and read some for themselves before turning their nose up at the Maoist third worldist. You can find the link to the Leading Light Communist Organization at the side of this page I invite you to go and read their material you might like what you see.


By: Dustin Slagle










(1)http://llco.org/archives/4911, FEB, 1, 2010